This study utilizes a driving simulator available at the Transportation Research and Visualization Laboratory (TRAVL), University at Buffalo, to investigate the behavior and physiological responses of young drivers (aged 18-25) in complex driving scenarios.
The pre-defined anxiety_group from Phase 1 are correlated with some aspects of gaze behavior. The Non-Anxious (N) group consistently had higher saccade_count and fixation_count across almost all scenarios, suggesting a more active visual scanning pattern than the Anxious (A) group.
The positive affirmation (between car and car_t2 scenarios) caused the two groups' gaze behavior to move in opposite directions.
(1) The Anxious group's focused AIO attention increased (car_t2_aoi_dur_percent: +5.9%), while the Non-Anxious group's focus remained stable (car_t2_aoi_dur_percent: +0.4%).
(2) After the affirmaiton the dwell time for Non-Anxious group decresed, while Anxious group demostrated increase.
The anxiety_group from Phase 1 are correlated with most of the self-reported cognitive state metrics such as feeling streesed, confused, or safe.
Four distinct experimental scenarios (two dynamic, two static) were developed within an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVE).